Crime: Rioting

Lord Howard of Lympne: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many of those arrested in the recent public disorder had served a sentence of imprisonment.

Lord McNally: The Ministry of Justice published on 15 September statistics on people being dealt with by the court system in relation to the August disturbances. A bulletin, titled Statistical Bulletin on the Public Disorder of 6th to 9th August 2011, can be found by following the link given below. Data on previous sentences served are available in "Additional tables on criminal history" tables 19 to 22 (following the link): http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/statistics-and-data/criminal-justice/public-disorder-august-11.htm.

Fire Services

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government what are the protocols requiring the fire service not to address fires during civil disturbances; whether the fire service is required to take orders from the police about desisting in such circumstances; and whether they will consider forming a dedicated guard for fire service employees when fighting such fires.

Baroness Hanham: Dear Chief Fire Officer Letter 7/1992 sets out procedures to be observed during civil disturbances. A copy has been placed in the Library of the House.

Government Departments: Redundancy

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the Cabinet Office has imposed compulsory redundancies outside the terms of the Civil Service Compensation Scheme in Northern Ireland.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: The Cabinet Office has no power to make any staff compulsorily redundant except for those it directly employs. The Cabinet Office does not directly employ any staff whose main place of work is in Northern Ireland

Passports

Lord Kennedy of Southwark: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many British passports were issued by each of the embassies, consulates and high commissions in each country where the United Kingdom has representation in each year from 1995.

Lord Henley: Available data will be placed in the House Libraries.
	Figures are available from financial year 1996-67 onwards. We do not have records going back to 1995.
	In 2006 there were approximately 90 locations where full validity passports were produced around the world. The move to a regionalised model was completed during 2010. Therefore, by 2010-11 the number of locations had reduced to 22.
	There are currently eight locations remaining overseas where British passport applications are processed. As of October 2011, all passports will be printed in the UK and by 2013 all processing will also transfer to the UK Identity and Passport Service. This will result in the Government's objective of bringing greater consistency, improving customer service, achieving economies of scale and improving the security of the passport operation.

Prisons: First Night Service

Lord Ramsbotham: To ask Her Majesty's Government why the National Offenders Management Service (NOMS) cancelled the First Night service provided at HMP Holloway by the Prisoner's Advice and Care Trust; and how much notice of the cancellation was given by National Offenders Management Service to the Prisoner's Advice and Care Trust.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the National Offenders Management Service proposes to continue a First Night service at HMP Holloway; and, if so, by whom and at what cost.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government why they rejected the independent Prison Reform Trust report on the First Night service provided by the Prisoner's Advice and Care Trust at HMP Holloway.

Lord McNally: The First Night service offered by PACT is duplicated to a large degree by information-gathering by the prison for input into the P-Nomis system at the point of reception. As a result of the need to ensure cost efficiency it was decided to review how the First Night service was provided at Holloway. PACT was the only bidder when the service was re-tendered; however, it did not represent value for money.
	It was decided to provide the service in-house, which offers significant cost benefits, and discontinue the service provided by PACT. A three-month notice period was entered into, which finishes on 31 October 2011. From then, a variation of the First Night Service will be provided utilising existing operational staff resources at no additional cost. Holloway will be giving prisoners extra phone credit when arriving as a new reception, which will be at a minimal additional cost to the prison.
	Given the PACT bid did not represent value for money the Prison Reform Trust report did not form part of the considerations during this process.